Opponents mock Monti after Vatican newspaper endorsement

28/12/2012

But Italy's top bishop praises PM

Rome, December 28 - While opponents on Friday
mocked the endorsement by the Vatican daily newspaper of Premier
Mario Monti's bid for election, others said they understood the
move.
Italy's top bishop Angelo Bagnasco said the endorsement
built upon the fact that Monti's administration has improved
Italy's reputation and standing internationally.
"The honesty and ability of Mont has been commonly
recognized," said Bagnasco, president of the CEI, the official
assembly of Catholic bishops in Italy.
However, some church fundamentalists said the newspaper
went too far because the technocrat premier could make dangerous
alliances if he were elected in February.
"(There is) too much silence and too many uncertainties,"
surrounding who would accompany Monti into government, warned
Antonio Mazzocchi, president of the conservative Christian
Reformers movement.
"As a Christian Reformist, I want to say that (the
endorsement) is out of place, not to mention in bad taste".
Monti's political allies could include politicians who
support gay marriage, warned the group.
On Thursday, the Vatican's daily L'Osservatore Romano
backed Monti's bid for a second term at the helm of a centrist
Catholic coalition.
The newspaper said Monti had launched "an appeal to restore
the highest and most noble sense of politics which is
still...care of the common good".
Pier Luigi Bersani, head of the Democratic Party, which is
leading in opinion polls, said he found it amusing and
surprising that L'Osservatore Romano found Monti had "a strong
appreciation of the nobility of politics".
Italian media has commented that the daily paper's backing
is practically a papal endorsement for Monti and a rejection of
ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.
His relationship with the Vatican was damaged by an alleged
affair with the Moroccan-born belly dancer 'Ruby' whom
Berlusconi is accused of having paid for sex when she was 17.
The Vatican has said it is "troubled" by Berluscsoni's
affair, dubbed Rubygate, and L'Osservatore Romano wrote last
January that it "caused a dent in Italy's image that will be
hard to repair".
Pope Benedict XVI in his Christmas greeting urged Italian
voters to keep high values in mind when making choices.
The Vatican continues to hold significant sway in Italian
politics.
photo: Bagnasco